Life After Death
by weirdandwonderfulthings
Summary: Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Caroline and Jeremy's life after Elena and Matt's tragic car accident.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one – Elena:

Slowly, her eyes opened revealing a vibrant red. All she could smell was blood. The sweet smell tingled through her nose and travelled through to her eyes, as the veins pulsed through her face. She was slightly confused as to what was going on and what her surroundings were. The faces were unrecognisable, until slowly everything came into focus. Blurred silhouettes became people and machines. She suddenly realised where she was and why she could smell so much blood. She was lying in a ward in a hospital, surrounded by blood samples and wounds coming from many different people all around her.

A cold shiver went down her spine as a strong hand gripped onto her arm. Quickly, she turned her head to see Stephan sat beside the bed. The look of his blue tinted eyes and his soft rosy lips brought back a flood of memories from that night.

"_I promise, I will do everything in my power to make sure we all come back"_

That was the promise Stephan made to her just before the plan to destroy Klaus went into action. She remembered that she wanted to tell him how much she loved him after that, but decided to save it for later, knowing full well that there was a high chance there would be no later. Then what happened next was amazingly unexpected and blew her mind all over again.

_Stephan paused at the door as if deciding something. Then slowly but powerfully turned and walked towards Elena with his head down but with a look on his face that knew he might not have much longer left. Finally he reached Elena, who wasn't expecting to look up and see Stephan only a few centimetres away from her. The strong grip of his hands cupped her cheeks while his soft lips gently touched hers. It lasted no longer than a few seconds, but was full of meaning and emotion. The kiss got stronger and his lips were no longer gentle as he pulled her closer towards his body taking in every moment as if it was their last. Slowly, but carefully he released her lips from his, still cupping her delicate face as if it was a piece of fine china that was easily broken. His eyes locked onto hers and quietly he whispered to her "That's just in case there is no later."_

She looked at Stephan wondering if he knew she was thinking about that exact moment in the chaotic night they had both experienced. The events following on from the kiss came back to her mind the more she thought about it.

She chose Stephan. That's why he was sat here and not Damon. She almost felt like crying at the memory that was hanging in her mind. Pushing the memory to the back of her head, she decided that she made the right choice. She shouldn't lose Damon. She didn't want to anyway…

Matt. What happened to Matt? She suddenly remembered the tragic event of the car crash. Matt should be alive, shouldn't he? She had made Stephan save him before her. It had brought back all of the memories of her Mum and Dad. Inside it killed her.

All of these memories, thoughts and feelings overwhelmed her and she started to feel a bit dizzy and ill.

"Elena? Are you okay?" She had almost forgotten that she wasn't alone in the room. She also didn't realise that Stephan wasn't the only visitor beside her either. Meredith was stood next to him. They both just stared at her as if she was different or something had happened to her.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Elena didn't see any reason why everyone would be so worried. She had survived the car crash, hadn't she? If she was alive then she must have only had a few minor injuries. Not aware of how serious her injuries had been she became angry that they were paying attention to her and not Matt.

"What's that smell? It's really strong and won't go away." All she could smell was blood. She couldn't understand it and this puzzled her.

It was only then when she realised what had actually happened and why they were taking so much notice of her. Why she could smell blood and why she had survived the car crash. The fact was that she didn't survive it. She was a vampire…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two – Stefan:

The hours that passed seemed to go on for ages for Stefan, and he had been alive for 163 years. The guilt was eating away at him. Why did he have to take Matt? It was his entire fault. He blamed himself for everything. The one girl who accepted him for what he is was now going to become what he is. It's the last thing he wanted for her. For him to know that she won't get to live all the normal human experiences that she should do – Having children, growing old and just having a normal human life.

While Stefan sat and waited for Elena to awake, he let his mind drift back to the moment when they first officially met.

_As Stefan was heading towards the bathrooms he was very aware of everyone staring at him. He didn't think much of it because that was the reaction he had gotten all his life. Where ever he went everyone always stared, however it's only been ever since he had been turned. Even though he was on edge expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, he did not expect to walk straight into Elena Gilbert coming straight out of the mens. Remembering this moment brought back a lot of emotions especially when he thought about how beautiful she looked that day. Her long, sleek brunette hair hung over her shoulders and her perfect complexion shone in the natural light of the hallway. Sparkling bright were her chestnut eyes. She looked so shocked yet intrigued as she stared like everyone else had. Stefan was confused about why she was coming out of the mens bathrooms and when he questioned her on it she stuttered and never actually said why it was. Her voice was soft and gentle. He knew it was not the first time he had saw her and it was not a coincidence that he was around to bump into her. He had it all planned. She looked like Katherine and he had to know why. Katherine was a mean piece of work, but Elena couldn't off been like her could she? He had to find out, so he enrolled in the same school as her and returned back to Mystic Falls. This would not be the first time they would meet and Stefan would make sure of it._

As he smiled at the thought of this particular memory he realised that from that moment Elena's life changed completely. At that point she had no idea of what adventures, losses and pain she would go through. And now after all of that, she was lying in front of him about to turn into a vampire. Stefan shivered at the thought, but knew that this was the way it was to be and there was no way out of this. They couldn't fight their way out of this problem.

Stefan's thoughts soon trailed off to his brother Damon. What would he do now? He felt slightly proud and extremely happy that Elena had chosen him, but he couldn't forget about Damon. He was still his brother and he was going to have to watch him suffer. He knew that Damon definitely wouldn't stay in Mystic Falls just to see him and Elena together every day. But then again Damon usually came out and surprised everyone when they weren't expecting it. And with that thought, Damon rushed through the door only to stop and stare at Elena frozen, about to make the change to a vampire. Stefan knew his brother too well and could see that inside he was dying seeing her like this. Just like he was when he walked through the door of the ward. The only difference was that Stefan didn't try to hide his emotions. He just let it all out and had a good cry to himself. He felt guilty and angry with himself. _Why didn't he take Elena first? Why couldn't Matt be the one who was about to turn into a vampire? _He couldn't help but think all of these horrible thoughts, which made him even angrier with himself.

"Damon?" Stefan was careful around Damon when he was bottling up his feelings because he knew that he could burst any minute and it would not be the best idea to be around him then. "Damon, are you ok?"

Damon was still frozen to the spot. Not one muscle in his body moved. He continued to stare at Elena and then as if someone had turned on a switch in his body, he suddenly woke up to the reality that was in front of him.

"What? Did you say something Stefan?"

"Yes, I asked if you were alright."

"Am I alright? Well let's see… I just walked into a ward in a hospital to see… THE GIRL I LOVE, FROZEN SOLID ABOUT TO TURN INTO A VAMPIRE ANY MINUTE NOW. DO YOU THINK IM OK?"

Stefan could see the tears coming to the surface of Damon's eyes and he knew that this was the moment that he was going to explode. He was treading on eggshells now and he had to be as delicate as he possibly could.

"Damon… Brother. I know what this is like for you. She's the girl I love too. As much as we hate this, we have to deal with it because whether we like it or not… this is happening. This is the reality we have to live with now. How do you think I feel? I took Matt out of the car before I took Elena. I LEFT ELENA IN THE CAR, THINKING I COULD STILL SAVE HER." He realised he was shouting at the top of his voice now, but he felt that Damon was the only person in the hospital that he could let all of his anger out to. "THIS IS TEARING ME APART FROM INSIDE OUT. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT? IF YOU WANT TO HATE ME THEN THAT IS FINE, BUT ITS NOT GOING TO SOLVE ANYTHING. WHATS DONE IS DONE AND THERES NOTHING… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT."

Stefan let out everything that was left in him. He didn't intend to, but he couldn't help it. All of his emotions that he had kept inside for the past 24 hours all came out a once and it certainly shocked Damon. There were a few moments of silence after that. Finally Stefan spoke up to put an end to the lifeless atmosphere that was lingering in the small cramped space around them.

"I'm sorry I shouted. I just had to let everything out and I shouldn't have done it here. You have every right to hate me and I completely understand if you do." Stefan wasn't expecting anything but more shouting from Damon, so he prepared for the worst.

"I don't hate you. You only did what she asked you to do. I'm sorry I went off on one too, but like you said – I had to let everything out."

Stefan's mouth fell open. He couldn't have been more shocked at what had happened at that very moment. This wasn't like Damon at all and he needed to know why.

"Damon, I don't understand? Normally you would be trying to rip off my head right now. You do remember that Elena picked me over you, don't you?"

"Yes, I do remember and by the way, thanks for putting that back into my head."

"Oops, sorry about that."

"It's fine. Look, I want to start a fresh and I'm trying to contain my temper. Clearly if Elena chose you then she wasn't the one for me. Everything happens for a reason and that must mean that my chance with someone is out there somewhere. I just have to find her."

For a moment Stefan let the silence continue just so he could take a minute to think about this new person stood in front of him that is his brother. He was changing and Stefan liked it. All of a sudden Damon shot out of the room and confused as to why, Stefan turned around, only to see Elena's eyes open as she coughed and spluttered. Immediately he rushed over to sit back down next to her. She seemed confused and unaware of the situation she was in.

Stefan decided to let her come to before he would remind her of everything that had happened that night. It took a while and Elena seemed to not be quite there for at least ten minutes or more. It felt like hours she was led there thinking or just not knowing what was going on. Stefan heard footsteps behind him and expected to see Damon appear beside him, however to his surprise it was Meredith. When he turned back to Elena she was looking straight at him with her still amazingly beautiful red eyes.

"Elena? Are you okay?" Stefan asked quietly but loud enough for her to hear. She stared back at him blankly and then responded quickly and confused.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Stefan could see that she had not yet registered that she wasn't completely human anymore.

"What's that smell? It's really strong and wont' go away." He knew what that smell was as soon as she said it. She could smell blood. And then the expression in her face changed dramatically. She knew now… She was a vampire.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three – Damon.

Dreadful thoughts rushed around in Damon's mind as he ran into the blood smelling hospital. He couldn't believe that the time of Elena turning into a vampire had come around so quick. Well, he knew the time would come eventually, but just not so fast. He couldn't decide whether he liked this or not. He liked the fact that Elena would be the same speed as him and she would probably be easier to turn to his side over Stephan's…. On the other hand, he would miss the sound of her heart beating as he touched her, and the helpless human she was when she wanted to help sort a vampire problem.

He burst through the hospital door only to get a flood of the smell of blood and then he paused and took his thoughts back to the last time he spoke to the human Elena. Even though it was over the phone and not in person he could still remember every word she said. He had a good memory like that.

_I love him, Damon. _

As soon as she had said this it was like the pain from a dagger to his heart, only this time it didn't heal itself.

_He came into my life at a time when I needed someone and I fell for him instantly. No matter what I feel for you I… I never unfell for him._

That feeling that had been in the back of his head, even though there was that hope that she would fall for him, that feeling of knowing her choice would be Stefan was there all the time. As much as Damon tried to dismiss this, it managed to crawl back every time he thought about the decision she was yet to make. It was Stefan. Always had been, always will be. Story of his life… His long, useless life.

_I can't think about always. All I can think about is right now and I care about you Damon, which is why I have to let you go._

Elena's voice started to shake and Damon could tell instantly that she was about to break down in tears. But as usual she was trying to be the strong one and not show her weakness. He couldn't help a single tear flow down his cheek and make its way to his lips where he quickly wiped it away and tried to stay as strong as he could given the situation.

_Maybe if you and I had met first…_

But that was the thing. They had met first. Of course Elena didn't remember this because Damon had wiped her memory after their encounter. Damon felt as if his insides were tearing apart and he didn't think it was possible, but his heart broke just that tiny bit more. He was so close to breaking down, however after all these years he had mastered controlling his feelings when he needed to and now used that skill so no one else could see what was really going on in his mind.

_You're going to be ok. You hear me? You're going to be fine and I'm going to see you soon._

Little did Elena know that there was a chance that she wasn't going to see him soon because as he turned around upon him stood Alaric and at that moment he remembered fear spreading across his whole body, and at that moment… He was ready to give up.

Damon didn't try hard to fight off Alaric because as far as he knew there was no point in living and there was a chance that he was going to end up dead in about an hour anyway, unless Klaus was lying. Although he tried hard on concentrating on fighting off Klaus, he couldn't take his mind off of Elena. He'd said his goodbye and there was nothing more he could do.

Suddenly Damon's mind came back to the reality of the situation he found himself in; stood in the middle of the hallway in the Mystic Falls Hospital. He thought a bit more about how clueless he was as to what was going on and why Alaric had fallen to his death in his arms only an hour or so ago. Elena couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. Not yet, not ever.

Whizzing through the hospital, Damon was in desperate need to find Elena, just to stop all of the horrible thoughts from repeating their selves in his head. Everything was in perfect clear vision for him and he could see everyone and everything around him and finally found a familiar face: Meredith.

"Where is she?" He stormed past her with every bit of energy he had left in him. "Where is she?"

Meredith tried to stop Damon as much as she could, but he resisted.

"No, Damon. Wait! You need to know when Jeremy brought her in here earlier her injuries were worse than I led on."

Damon had full concentration on what Meredith was saying now and listened as carefully as he could. Meredith continued with a sense of tension in her voice as she explained what had actually happened to Elena.

"It wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding on the brain."

Damon's faced screwed up as what Meredith had just said went through his head again and again. He tried to make sense of it all, but was still slightly confused.

"What are you saying?" Damon croaked out trying to sound as normal as he could.

"I was so worried I didn't want to tell anyone. I helped her, she needed my help."

He couldn't believe it. Rooted to the ground, Damon felt he was unable to move because of the shock he was in. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted this to not be happening, it was and he had to go and face Elena sooner or later. So he made his way slowly to the ward where she lay as still as a cold stone statue, looking like she didn't have a care in the world. She was so peaceful, yet she had yet to know the crazy and adventurous journey that lay in the road ahead. It took Damon a while to realise that Stefan was stood across from him with tears in his eyes. Stay strong, Damon was telling himself… Stay strong… She had made her choice. She chose Stefan and now it's time for him to start a fresh. He could move on now. This was his time to find the one… It was his time…

**Reviews are appreciated. Please let me know what you like/dislike about this chapter.**

**I do not own anything apart from the storyline.**


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